A federal judge has lifted a 1979 injunction that prevented public access to a database of Medicare claims — an action that may increase scrutiny over how providers treat patients and charge for services, according to a Thomson Reuters report.
Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, requested in January 2011 that the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida lift the 33-year-old injunction. The request was prompted by a series of WSJ articles that identified millions of dollars in fraud by Medicare providers.
The newspaper was restricted by limitations for the data, which were released by HHS. Those limitations made all information pertaining to individual Medicare providers anonymous. As a result, reporters were prohibited from naming individual physicians who the WSJ identified through the Medicare data alone, according to the report.
Judge Marcia Morales Howard ruled in favor of the motion, saying the injunction was based on "a legal principle that can no longer be sustained," according to the report.
The American Medical Association has fought to maintain the injunction, arguing that public access to Medicare claims will violate physicians' privacy.
Dow Jones, HHS and the AMA did not comment in the report.
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Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, requested in January 2011 that the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida lift the 33-year-old injunction. The request was prompted by a series of WSJ articles that identified millions of dollars in fraud by Medicare providers.
The newspaper was restricted by limitations for the data, which were released by HHS. Those limitations made all information pertaining to individual Medicare providers anonymous. As a result, reporters were prohibited from naming individual physicians who the WSJ identified through the Medicare data alone, according to the report.
Judge Marcia Morales Howard ruled in favor of the motion, saying the injunction was based on "a legal principle that can no longer be sustained," according to the report.
The American Medical Association has fought to maintain the injunction, arguing that public access to Medicare claims will violate physicians' privacy.
Dow Jones, HHS and the AMA did not comment in the report.
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